Global warming has always been a major issue that has been ignored. The world is changing for the worse, and we are choosing to ignore it. We produce 2.4 million tons of carbon dioxide a second, and don’t give it a second thought. However due to innovations in science there are alternative sources of energy to carbon. There are solar, wind, wave, kinetic, non-traditional nuclear, and many more. I want to focus on solar power because I believe it has the greatest potential. When people think of alternative forms of energy they think of solar power, but they might not understand how the process of collecting solar energy works.

Solar energy is the process of generating power from the sun’s solar rays. About 70% of the sun’s rays that come to earth bounce right back into space. That leaves 30% for us to harvest into solar energy. There are two ways to harvest solar energy and they are the solar thermal method and the use of photoelectric cells. The solar thermal method uses the sun’s rays to heat water to create energy. Solar panels are used to trap heat to heat up the water inside the panels. The panels are painted black so that the maximum amount of sunlight is absorbed. Photoelectric cells are used to convert sunlight into electricity. The cells are silicon pieces of material designed to absorb sunlight. As sunlight enters the cells electrons begin to move in a current. The electricity is in the form of a direct current. Since little electricity is created from one cell they are grouped together to form an array. The power is then used to charge cells or inverters.

Solar energy has its advantages and disadvantages. Some advantages are that producing energy is free and there is no waste or pollution. Solar energy is very handy in sunny areas where it is difficult to get electricity which helps third world countries produce energy. Solar energy is also very useful for many household objects. Most small electric products and battery chargers can be powered by solar energy cutting down on your home energy bills. However there are disadvantages to solar power. For one they cannot produce energy at night because of the lack of light. To go along with that, solar power is not that reliable in areas that receive less sunlight. For example you would need a lot more solar panels in Finland to produce the same amount as a few solar panels in Spain. Solar power stations are also very expensive to build. Although as technology advances the price goes down, solar power costs a lot more money than other energy sources.

            

Solar energy is not the only alternative source of energy out there right. There are many other methods to produce clean energy. Although these methods are not that effective right now they will make a big difference in the future when the earth starts to really feel the effects of global warming. Solar energy may seem like it would be an expensive investment on a small amount of energy, but that small amount of energy would not only be helping you but everyone else on the planet.

For more information check out this video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NDZzAIcCQLQFor 

Resources 

http://www.darvill.clara.net/altenerg/solar.htm

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_power

http://www.conserve-energy-future.com/HowSolarEnergyWorks.php